Poetics of the Past, Politics of the Present: Chaucer, Gower, and Old Books

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This thesis examines the poetics and politics of ‘olde bokes’ (Legend of Good Women, G, 25) in selected works by Chaucer and Gower, paying particular attention to the way in which both writers appropriate their sources and the theories of history and political ideas informing these appropriations. It argues that Chaucer eschews metanarratives in his appropriations of the past and its writings, emphasising the multiplicity of voices that are contained in written discourse across time. In contrast, Gower, while acknowledging the presence of multiple voices, appropriates the writings of the past in an attempt to arrive at a harmonised poetic voice of his own. These poetics of the past result in different politics of the present in both writers’ works. While Gower’s politics are generally nostalgic and conservative, Chaucer is apolitical and primarily interested in the processes of political discourse. In this respect, Gower is a writer who strives to make sense of history and tradition and formulate poignant political statements in the face of contemporary struggles, whereas Chaucer does not offer unambiguous statements, but rather creates a multi-facetted poetic voice that highlights the reasons why such statements are impossible to achieve in the face of discursive heterogeneity. Why Chaucer and Gower? Chaucer and Gower in Ricardian England Reading the Past and Its Texts Chapter Outline Gower’s Vox Clamantis and the Authority of History Past and Present, Cento and Schollboy Plagiarism Latin and its Audiences The Politics of History Conclusion Chaucer’s Dreams: Authority in Writing and Society The Nun’s Priest’s Tale: Parody or Earnest Game? The House of Fame and the Fabulation of History The Social Appropriation of Authority in the Parliament of F Conclusion Time Past and Time Present in Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde Troilus and Criseyde and Historiography ‘Save Oure Tonges Difference’: Troy and London Conclusion Gower’s Trojan Memory: a Selective Inheritance Troy and the State of England in the Vox Clamantis Troy in the Prologue and Epilogue to the Confessio Amantis The Trojan Episodes in the Confessio Amantis Conclusion The Tale of Melibee and Confessio Amantis VII: What to do wi Old Texts in a Contemporary Context Narrative Frames and Fictional Audiences Actual Audiences and Fictional Advice Conclusion Tales of Virginia Source Appropriation and Politics Virginia and the Body of History Conclusion Primary Sources Secondary Sources